Welcome to the "What Is LUNAR?"
section here at LunarNET which all newcomers to the LUNAR
series should find helpful. The first LUNAR game, LUNAR:
The Silver Star, was released in 1992 on the Mega CD
(Sega CD here in North America) by a company named GameArts.
It was developed by a group that GameArts put together by
the name of Studio Alex, and consisted of key LUNAR people
such as Kei Shigema as the head writer, Noriyuki Iwadare
doing the sound and music, and T. Kubooka doing artwork
and character designs. Originally, three stories were developed
for the LUNAR series. The second story is what LUNAR: The
Silver Star came to be. The first story was set in the background
of LUNAR TSS and was based on the original four heroes:
Dyne, Ghaleon, Lemia and Mel. This story was never made
into a game, and would have taken place at least 15 years
prior to the events of LUNAR TSS. The final story that was
created is what LUNAR
II: Eternal Blue became. Originally it was designed
to be the next generation of heroes after LUNAR TSS, but
when developing the game, they created a much larger timespan
between the two games.

After the release of LUNAR EB, a portable
"gaiden" or side story to the LUNAR series titled
Lunar: Walking School
was released on the Sega Game Gear. It took place a few
hundred years prior to LUNAR TSS. Domestic LUNAR publisher
Working Designs never brought LUNAR WS out in the US, but they
did bring over LUNAR TSS and EB. When the Sega Saturn was
first making it's debut, talk of some LUNAR remakes started
happening, and eventually we got remakes of all three LUNAR
games. LUNAR: The Silver Star became LUNAR:
Silver Star Story (Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
in North America), LUNAR II: Eternal Blue became
LUNAR 2 Eternal Blue(LUNAR 2 Eternal Blue Complete in North America)
and LUNAR: Walking School became LUNAR:
Magic School. Like Walking School, Magic School was
never brought to North America. Ever since the remakes were
first announced, talk of a LUNAR 3 has been rumored. 10
years later, and we still are waiting for LUNAR 3. More
information about this legendary rumored title can be found
on our LUNAR 3
page. Both of the main two remakes were eventually ported
to the Sony Playstation, and brought out in North America
with their Complete titles by Working Designs. It should
be mentioned that GameArts did not develop these remakes.
A number of companies were responsible, including Kadokawa
Shoten, Japan
Art Media, Gonzo
(animation), Gekko
(scenerio design company run by Kei Shigema), and TwoFive
(Noriyuki Iwadare's music company). Artwork was again done
by Kubooka. During this time period, TONS of merchandise
was created, from soundtracks to manga, and novels to phone
cards. All of the merchandise can be found in our merchandise
section.

Fast forwarding to the 2000's, over eight
years after the release of the original LUNAR: The Silver
Star, it was announced that a portable version of LUNAR
1 was coming to the Nintendo GameBoy Advance. The title
name was Lunar Legend
and was a remake of the Saturn/Playstation LUNAR: Silver
Star Story (a remake of a remake!). However, unlike
other versions of LUNAR, Lunar Legend was released
in North America by UbiSoft.

Last, something has to be said about the
LUNAR fans. LUNAR fans are probably the most cult-like fans
for their series of any RPG series ever. A lot of the success
of the remakes of LUNAR had to have been due to the fanbase
that really pushed these games after having played the original
games. As LUNAR fans, we knew that after playing the originals,
everyone else had to experience these wonderful games. When
Working Designs released LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete
it sold something like half a million copies and is still
the best selling release Working Designs has ever put out.
In fact, it was taken out of print so that it wouldn't become
a greatest hits that ended up in a bargain bin. The general
feeling was that a game like LUNAR didn't deserve to be
relegated to a bargain bin. Fans of the LUNAR series have
always been great about getting the word out about how wonderful
this series is, and they deserve at least some credit for
making the series as popular as it has been over the years.
In fact, it was widely known during the Playstation releases
that fans in America outnumbered fans in Japan. For an RPG
series that came from Japan, that's an amazing feat! No
other Japanese-developed RPG series can claim that. Not
Final Fantasy, not Phantasy Star, not Dragon
Quest/Warrior, none of them. LUNAR is a series with
a great fanbase, and a rich storyline and history. So if
you've never had had the wonderful experience of these classic
stories, make sure to hunt down these great games. And make
sure to check around LunarNET for more LUNAR information.
We hope you find the information and materials on this site
of great use, and be sure to let us know what you think
about the site, or the LUNAR series itself on our forums.
Take care!